The state of falling freely under gravitational attraction. A freely falling body is in no way resisting the acceleration due to GRAVITY, and because of this a person inside a freely falling container feels no weight. For example, a person inside a freely falling lift will be accelerating at the same rate as the lift itself; therefore there will be no relative acceleration (and therefore no force) between the floor of the lift and his feet and he feels no sensation of weight. An orbiting SATELLITE is in a state of free fall, being accelerated towards the EARTH by GRAVITY, but not hitting the surface because of the transverse motion of the SATELLITE relative to the EARTH. Spacecraft, when not operating their motors, are in a state of free fall. (See also WEIGHTLESSNESS.)
